Miami Marlins Favorites to Sign Cuban Center Fielder Yoenis Cespedes?

The Miami Marlins have changed their team name, their logo, their uniforms, and they’re moving into a new stadium. Ken Rosenthal reports that the team is also ready to spend major bucks in free agency. An additional report says they’re the favorites to sign Cuban center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, a five-tool player whom we covered this weekend.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Marlins have the inside track on Cespedes. They say the team’s owner, Jeffrey Loria, and several team officials will watch him work out in the Dominican Republic Thursday. They add that Cespedes shares the same agent as Hanley Ramirez, who was signed to a long-term deal by the Marlins.

Cespedes would be a particularly good fit for the Marlins because of his potential appeal to the fan base in South Florida. Moving into a new stadium, the Marlins will have to sell out games in order to maintain a high payroll.

In addition to Cespedes, Rosenthal says the Marlins are likely to pursue Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes. Given how cheap they’ve been over the years, I’ll believe it when I see it. But I certainly could see them dishing out big money to land the Cuban star.